


An Insightful Picnic

by schrijverr



Series: Being Home [3]
Category: 1917 (Movie 2019)
Genre: Bit sad, Caring Tom and Will, Fluff, I swear, M/M, Picnics, bit of homophobia is mentioned but barely, but not really, ww1 mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:42:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24475948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schrijverr/pseuds/schrijverr
Summary: Will and Tom look after Mary and Jane while Polly and Mrs. Blake are away. They go on a picnic and musings about the future and what that means for them come to light.
Relationships: Tom Blake/William Schofield
Series: Being Home [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1705828
Comments: 9
Kudos: 22





	An Insightful Picnic

**Author's Note:**

> You can also find this work on my tumblr which is also @schrijverr, I love to talk to you all so I hope you pop in and say hi! :)

It was summer in 1918, almost halfway through June in fact. The weather was lovely and the fields around the small town where the Blakes lived alongside the Schofield siblings. There would be some races with horses up near Birmingham and Mrs. Blake had decided to take Polly for a fun day out, she had wanted to invite Tom and Will as well along with the two little girls, but the two men had declined saying that they had seen enough horses in the war to be cured of any curiosity, the rotting horse corpses still fresh in their minds. With only two adults and a goal to relax it was also decided that the twins would be better off staying with Tom and Will.

The two girls had been pretty disappointed to miss the races, so in order to make it up to them Tom and Will had planned a fun picnic in the forest. This delighted them to no end, Jane hadn’t been able to stop chattering on about it with a happy Mary on her trail. They had been even more excited when Tom had announced Saturday evening that they got to stay up a bit later to help him bake a cherry pie for the picnic the next day.

Jane was allowed to help with rolling out the dough and Mary with preparing the cherries. Tom did the measuring and most of the kneading, although both girls wanted to try, making it into a small competition. Will had watched them from the kitchen table with a fond smile. He had offered to do the clean up while Tom tucked the two girls in and told them a story. 

When Tom came down again he wordlessly picked up a towel and started drying the dishes Will was washing. Will asked with a smirk: “Did they go to bed smoothly?”

Tom laughed: “They put up a good fight, but it’s late and I’m much stronger.” he paused his drying to flex his arms, making Will laugh. Indignantly he asked: “Oi, what are you laughing at?”

Will bit on his bottom lip to stop the smile, but it didn’t work. He gestured vaguely with the sponge at Tom and said: “Just, just you, dumbass. Very heroic, winning against two seven-year-olds.”

Tom pouted for a second then he couldn’t help, but laugh as well. He jokingly tried to save his pride by saying: “Hey, your nieces can be menaces. I don’t know how Polly, does it every night.”

“Don’t involve me into it, they’ve adopted you as an uncle, they’re your nieces now too. And I feel you are the bad influence out of the two of us.” Will said.

A burst of warmth went through Toms chest. Will had come so far from the lonely, quiet and sad chap he had met out on the fields of France. He was more happy now and it made Tom so proud that he was part of Wills family and vise versa. They probably could never have anything public or official, but these feeling they were real and that could never be taken from them. 

Will noticed his silence and raised a concerned eyebrow at him, not saying anything as well. Tom smiled at him to reassure him that nothing was wrong and quickly leaned in for a kiss. There was no one else in the house, Mrs. Blake and Polly had already gone further North and Jane and Mary were in bed. 

The kiss was soft. It was quiet, but said a thousand words. It said I love you, I’m proud of you, I’m glad to have you in my life. It said never let go of me, because I will never let go of you. They didn’t need to say those words, because they already knew them, but it was nice to let the warm feeling flow between them in that small kitchen on that summer eve.

The next day they were pulled out of bed by two excited young ladies, who had burst through the door and jumped on the bed startling the two sleeping ex-soldiers. It spoke volumes about their progress that the only physical reaction they had to the sudden intrusion was startling into an upright position, with their fists up. Jane and Mary didn’t notice it, just pulled on their hands as they complained that it was morning and they wanted to go.

After telling them to go downstairs, the two got up and started to get dressed. It was a familiar routine. Tom got dressed completely, while Will got dressed as far as he could with one hand and made the bed, when both were done with that Tom tied Wills laces and did up his buttons, before heading downstairs.

They ate a quick and small breakfast, before preparing the last of their food for the lunch, packing it all into a basket and calling Myrtle. Then they were off, Jane wanted to hold the basket at first, but when Mary had stopped to pluck a flower and stick it in her hair, Jane had opted to hand Will the basket, so that she could do the same. Will had smiled at that and shared an amused look with Tom.

It was probably better that the basket was occupying his only hand, because it had been nearly habit to slip his into Toms the moment they entered the forest, but with Mary and Jane there they couldn’t risk it.

Soon they arrived at a small clearing in the middle of the forest. It was a quiet spot that not many people knew about, so Tom and Will found themselves there quite often. Normally they would sit on the ground, but to spare the girls light dresses from too many grass stains they’d brought a checkered blanket to sit on. 

It was a pretty big blanket, but with the two girls and all the food on it Will and Tom had to sit on the ground. They didn’t mind, but Jane did. She said: “No, Uncle Will, Uncle Tom, you have to sit on the blanket as well. Otherwise it wouldn’t be a good picnic.”

Beside her Mary nodded seriously as Jane pouted at them. Will smiled at them and explained that they couldn’t fit on the blanket, but that it was alright, because they didn’t mind sitting in the grass. The two wouldn’t hear it. They started to rearrange all the food, until their was a small enough spot for both of them to sit on. And when they said small, they meant small. The only way they could fit was if one of them sat cross-legged and the other squeezed on right beside that with his feet and legs in the grass. After a small conversation with their eyes, Tom was the one sitting cross-legged.

Jane and Mary were pleased and the picnic could begin. Myrtle laid next to blanket and her tail wagging as she closed her eyes and rested in the sun. She had taken a liking to the twins and Will could understand why as he watched them pet her absentmindedly throughout the lunch and sneakily feed her some meat from the sandwiches when Tom wasn’t looking.

When they had sat there for a while Jane and Mary were starting to get bored, Tom picked up on it and suggested: “Why don’t you go play with Myrtle, while me and Will watch the blanket. She needs some exercise and I’m sure she would appreciate your company.”

At that the two lit up and sprinted off with Myrtle, before they could get too far Will yelled: “Stay in sight, don’t go too far!”

Jane gave a yell back while Mary waved at them to signal they had heard, neither of them stopping for a second. Tom smiled and said: “Children, I’ll always be surprised at the amount of energy they have.”

Will gave him a look and said: “Like you aren’t still a child as well.”

His comment earned him a shove and he allowed himself to fall backwards, using the momentum to roll onto his feet. He gathered the left overs to make space on the blanket, seeing what he was doing Tom helped until there was enough space to sit down properly together.

From their blanket they watched the two girls run around with Myrtle, laughing and shrieking in delight. If he squinted enough, he could almost picture a future like this. A future where he and Tom could have kids and live happily on the countryside with no war going on and no hate against them and people like them. He knew that future wasn’t going to happen, but he hoped that it at least could stay like this for a little longer. 

Tom noticed his far off look and softly asked: “What is going on in that brain of yours?”

“Hmm?” Will locked their eyes as he processed the question, then he looked back at Mary and Jane and sighed: “Just, what could be, you know, if the world wasn’t shit. What our future could have been.”

Tom understood, when he had realized how much he loved his then friend, he knew what he would have to sacrifice to love him. But Tom also saw how much they could have. He knew Will and Polly were trying to make her dream of owning an inn a reality and he knew that it would be hard if they ever wanted that small home for just them, yet he was hopeful. He believed that a long and good life wasn’t that far out of reach if they tried. So, he said: “Our future can still be something, love. Maybe not kids and marriage, but Mary and Jane need us and I know that we don’t need formalities to be happy, right?”

He gently bumped his shoulder into Wills and gave him a tranquil and inquisitive look. Will bit his lip and frowned a bit as he thought, then he said: “You’re probably right and I do want to be here for them and Polly and Mrs. Blake, but I can’t understand how you’re so certain of this hope for the future. After everything we’ve seen, after we felt first hand how easily life slips away.”

Toms eyes saddened a bit with Will words, but he knew where his boyfriend was coming from and if he was good at something, it was talking to cheer Will up and give him hope. So he leaned back on his hands and stared up to the sky as he said: “I think that’s what gives me hope. Life is so fragile, but we made it this far and until it slips away you need to make the best of it, you know? Maybe our future won’t be all that we dream to be, but if we give up before we try, we might never see how close we can get. I practically died out there is France, all I’m living now is extra and I’m going to make the best of it.” he looked back at Will and finished: “And I hope I get to do that with you.”

Will blushed from the sudden eye contact along with the words and he struggled with a reply. In the end he settled on giving Tom a quick hug and a peck on his cheek after he had quickly glanced at Mary and Jane to see if they were looking, the two were still wrapped up in their own fantasy world and didn’t notice. He whispered: “Thank you.”

Tom petted his hair and said: “No need, did it with love.”

They enjoyed the rest of the afternoon in the same fashion, until it was late and they needed to head home. This saddened the twins, but they still followed after them. They were tired after a day of fun and the prospect of a bed and dinner didn’t sound so bad, although neither would admit that if asked.

Will made a simple soup with the help of Tom, which the four of them ate while sitting on the porch and watching the sun lower over the fields. 

Then it was time for bed. Will and Tom escorted the girls upstairs and helped them get ready for the night. Tom tucked in Jane, while Will tucked in Mary. They wanted to leave quietly, believing the girls close to sleep, but a tug from Mary and a soft protest from Jane stopped them. They wanted a story, a real story, about France, not a fairytale.

Tom shrugged and settled down at the end of the bed while Will did the same. Tom started: “This is a story that begins with a sad ending.”

“How can that be?” Jane asked.

“Well, it starts with me getting badly hurt.” Tom told her.

“What happened to you?” Mary asked.

“Me and your Uncle Will had been send out on a mission. We were well on our way, when we saw three planes flying over. We watched as one om them crashed down, the man inside still alive.”

The girls gasped as Will frowned, he could understand which story Tom was telling, but he didn’t understand why he would tell that one. It wasn’t one of the happier stories, certainly not, it also wasn’t very fun to listen to, especially if you were a child. Still Tom went on: “We saved the man, but it was too late, he was close to death and he used the last of his strength in attacking me, hurting me badly, which is where I wanted to start.”

Will appreciated that Tom left out that Will had been the one to kill the German soldier. And listened closely to try and figure out where Tom was going with this. 

“I couldn’t go on and told Will to leave me and finish our mission, because it was very important.” Tom said, “He didn’t want to, but he had to. Not soon after he had left me to find on his way back, a medical team found me.”

The end of that was just plain false, but Will liked this version of what happened much better than the real one. The one where Tom had nearly died and had laid there for hours in pain, just waiting for anyone to help, the one where he didn’t go back for him.

“Did they help you?” Jane asked.

Tom smiled: “They did, they got me back home.”

“That’s good, right? It’s not sad anymore now.” Mary added.

“It is good, I got the help I needed, but Will couldn’t find me anymore.” Tom said.

Mary interrupted again: “But that is not good at all!”

“But it’s going to end well, don’t worry.” Tom reassured her, “It was indeed quite sad that me and Will couldn’t find each other again. We thought that maybe we never would and we both hated being separated from a good friend.”

Will nearly snorted at Toms description of their relationship, but kept his mouth as he absentmindedly stroked Marys lower leg as they all listened to Tom, who went on: “We didn’t see each other for a long time, but then suddenly I get an answer to the letter I send Will. It had arrived and he had send a letter back. Suddenly we could find each other again.”

Jane cheered and Mary smiled. Tom continued: “We met up again and although it had taken hard work to get there, we could now be friends once more. The end.”

Jane yawned and said: “That was a good story, I like it.” 

Mary nodded as well and soon both had drifted off to sleep. Quietly Tom and Will left the room and went downstairs. Once they were out of earshot and didn’t risk waking them up Will softly asked: “That story was more for me, wasn’t it.”

“If you think you needed to hear it, sure.” Tom replied with a wink.

Will would’ve been mad to be treated like a kid, but honestly it was nice to think Tom was so sure of their survival and their future. It gave him hope too, so he just smiled back and asked if Tom wanted some tea.

They sat in the living room, just enjoying each other company until it was late at night. They slept in each others arms and comforted the other when the dreams weren’t kind. 

The next day Mrs. Blake and Polly returned and were nearly overrun with two excited girls, who chattered on about the picnic and how fun it had been. Polly told them: “How nice of your uncles, we might have to hire them full time to babysit you two.”

The girls pouted and told their mother that they didn’t need to be babysat, because they were already old enough to look after themselves. Polly just smiled at that, but didn’t comment. She did look up in surprise when Tom said: “We’re happy to, just say the word when you need the helping hand.”

From the living room Will looked at Tom, who was standing in the hallway, and smiled. He heard Polly backtrack, saying it was just a joke and that he didn’t have to, really. Will stuck his head around the corner and said: “It isn’t a bother, Polls.”

He and Tom smiled at each other and he thought that they were going to be alright.

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like they would be great dads and it's sad that they can't be, but just because you aren't a dad doesn't mean you can't be a father-figure.


End file.
